


A Favour For An Old Friend

by KillianJones32



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Ex-Best Friends, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 20:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10343715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillianJones32/pseuds/KillianJones32
Summary: “Really?” Oliver asks, his eyebrows darting up to his hairline, “You haven’t spoken to me in two years and now you’re asking me to commit a crime for you?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> warning for hinted possible blackmail but not between connor and oliver.

“Hey Oliver”

Mildly jumping at the sound of his name, Oliver turns from his locker to see a smirking Connor Walsh standing on his left.

Oliver blinks once, then twice as if unsure what else he is supposed to do, “Em, hi Connor.”

Connor’s smirk diminishes ever so slightly, not by much. In fact it’s rather unnoticeable to anyone except someone who knew Connor really well.

Which is odd because Oliver feels like he doesn’t know Connor even remotely well after all this time.

Oliver tries not to let old feelings of betrayal and resentment rise to the surface at the thought of how long it’s been since Connor looked him in the eye, let alone the last time they spoke. 

“How are you?” Connor asks, leaning his shoulder against the locker beside Oliver’s. Oliver’s stomach twists at how familiar this all is, even though they haven’t been friends in so long.

“I’m fine.” Oliver replies courteously, returning to taking books from his locker and hastily stashing them in his bag, “I’m happy that school’s over for the day, you know? Same as everyone else.”

If it were anyone else who had asked, Oliver would have responded with the same answer but finished with politely returning the question. But Connor Walsh was not everyone and Oliver doesn’t really care how Connor’s doing these days anyway.

Well that’s probably a lie. Oliver just doesn’t feel like hearing all about the great sex Connor had last night with some junior guy in the all-boys school across town, or maybe he’s even branching out into fucking college guys now.

He doesn’t feel like listening to Connor complaining about his homework or how much studying he’s supposed to do because he’ll come out with all As anyway and he certainly doesn’t feel like listening to Connor’s fake attempts at small talk after they haven’t talked in so long.

“That’s eh, that’s good.”

Oliver hums an affirmative noise as he fumbles to close his bag and shut his locker at the same time.

Oliver huffs and wonders why lockers must be so complicated to close.

“Here let me help-“

“It’s fine Connor.”

“No please let me-“

“I said that it’s fine!” Oliver’s voice rises dangerously towards a shouting height that echoes in the deserted high school hallway. 

Connor’s wide brown eyes blink in shock and Oliver knows he’s mirroring a similar expression, except his is more of horror at his own behaviour.

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean to yell” Oliver stutters softly

Connor nods in understanding and Oliver isn’t sure whether he feels resentment or relief that Connor still knows him so well after all this time. That they both still know exactly what the other means in the vague words they say.

It’s an uneasy sort of comfort that Oliver isn’t familiar with.

After finally shutting his locker and swinging his closed bag over his back, Oliver turns to fully face Connor again.

“What do you want Connor?”

“I just wanted to-“

“And don’t bother coming up with some bullshit reason about how you just want to chat or see how I’m doing, I won’t buy it.” Oliver snaps sharply “You’re clearly here for something otherwise you wouldn’t even be looking at me so why are you here?”

Something flashes across Connor’s face, an emotion that Oliver either has never seen on Connor’s face before or one he simply can’t remember seeing Connor wear but Oliver doesn’t have enough time to analyse it before Connor speaks again.

“I need you to hack a phone for me.”

Oliver couldn’t stop the small laugh that escapes past his lips.

“Really?” Oliver asks, his eyebrows darting up to his hairline, “You haven’t spoken to me in two years and now you’re asking me to commit a crime for you?”

“Yes.” Connor replies simply, as if it were the easiest and most normal thing in the world.

Oliver has to smile at that, Connor’s still Connor. No elaboration, no explanation, just this is what we’re going to do because I want to do it.

Oliver tries so hard to quell the knowing feeling in his gut that tells him that he’s going to do this anyway, because he knows he shouldn’t. He had spent so long trying to put the pieces of himself that Connor so cruelly shattered back together, he doesn’t know if he’d have the strength to do it a second time.

“Don’t you think that’s a little…em…I don’t know rude?”

Connor tilts his head and smirks, “Rude? Come on Ollie it’s not like we never hacked into someone’s phone before. We were hacking our teacher’s emails when we were 11.”

Oliver inwardly blanches at the old, familiar nickname but does his best not to back down.

“Yeah well that’s changed.”

Connor’s the one to laugh this time, “What so you don’t hack anymore? Because that’s not what Michaela told me.”

Anger fuels in Oliver’s stomach at the thought of Connor gossiping about him with their only mutual friend. Dammit, he should have known better than to trust Michaela. She was always more Connor’s friend than his.

“That wasn’t what I was talking about.” Oliver says shortly

Oliver watches as Connor swallows and his eyes grow softer as he realises Oliver’s meaning.

“Look…Oliver I…I know I owe you an explanation-”

“I don’t want one”

“And you deserve one- wait…you don’t want one?”

Thick lines appear on Connor’s face due to his deep frown and eyebrows suddenly drawn together.

“No” Oliver sighs, straightening the strap on his shoulder “I don’t want an explanation. I’ve…I’ve thought of a million possible explanations as to why you suddenly decided to stop talking to me, to why one morning you woke up and decided I wasn’t a good enough best friend for you so you avoided me and avoided me until fucking Asher Millstone, who you always proclaimed you hated by the way, told me that you told him I was nothing more than…fuck what was that great line you told him, oh yeah that I was nothing more than a sidekick with good hacking skills and shitty jokes.”

Connor closes his eyes tightly and visibly cringes as he hears his own words repeated back to him.

Oliver’s laugh comes out more breathy this time and if he’s being completely honest, it’s just something to stop himself from possibly crying.

“Just…just hear me out, okay?” Connor asks quietly

“Connor I’m just…really not interested.” Oliver replies tiredly

“I’m sorry.”

Those two words cause Oliver to freeze and blink aimlessly at Connor whose eyes are staring desperately back at him.

“I’m…I’m really sorry Oliver.” Connor continues, his voice softer now “I shouldn’t have…I shouldn’t have distanced myself from you like that. I shouldn’t have lied to Asher about why I did, because it was lies Oliver, it was all lies.” Oliver closes his eyes when Connor pauses, taking a long breath, “I just…there was stuff going on. I…look okay you don’t any explanation and that’s okay but-“

“Fine.”

Connor stops short, “What?”

Oliver sighs, “I’ll hack the phone for you. I’ll do this and that is it. This is just…me paying you back for the times you helped me with my homework or when you put in a good word for me at the restaurant so the manager would hire me. After this you…you go back to wanting nothing to do with me.”

“But Oliver I-“

“Do you want me to hack this stupid phone or what?”

It takes a minute for Connor to reply with a reluctant and resigned, “Yeah.”

Oliver nods, straightens the strap of his backpack on his shoulder and says, “Fine but let’s not do it right here in the hallway.”

It only takes a minute or two for them to find an open, empty classroom. Connor shuts the door behind him while Oliver leans against one of the tables in the front row.

“So do you have it on you?”

Connor blinks for a second before realising what Oliver is referring to and hurriedly taking out a fancy, relatively new iPhone from his pocket and handing it over to him.

Oliver looks down and inspects it for a minute before raising an eyebrow at Connor.

“So why exactly are we hacking this?”

Connor snorts, “I don’t think that was part of the deal.”

Oliver struggles not to roll his eyes,

“You have to tell me why we’re committing a felony before we do it.” Oliver smirks a little, a rare habit that he gained from spending his childhood being best friends with Connor Walsh, “Not that that’s going to stop us, but at least I’ll have all the facts.”

Oliver catches a hint of a smile on Connor’s lips.

“It’s eh for Gemma.”

Oliver’s strong self-preservation façade falls, “Gemma? Is she alright?”

Oliver always had an admiration for Connor’s older sister. She was one of the toughest people Oliver has ever met but loved her brother more than anything. And seeing as Oliver became sort of an addition to the Walsh family by the time he and Connor were 8, Gemma always made sure that Oliver was looked after.

Over a year ago, Oliver ran into her at the grocery store and they’d talked for a few minutes. Gemma had conveyed her utmost annoyance at her brother for cutting off his friendship with Oliver and how she tried to talk some sense into him and see what was wrong but he wouldn’t talk to her about it.

Oliver had barely managed a smile and some closing words about how nice it was to see her but he really had to go before he quickly skidded down the aisle.

It had been too raw back then. As much as he loved Gemma, he couldn’t talk to her about Connor in the middle of the grocery store even though at the time Connor was pretty much all he ever thought about.

That had finally begun to change…until now.

Connor’s shoulders stiffen and he sniffs, but because he’s upset, instead it’s out of almost fury.

“Yeah she-well she will be. Shitty boyfriend is all. Well, her ex now actually. Thank God.”

Oliver clenches his jaw and nods, already suspecting where this is going.

“But anyway he has…well he’s threatening to-“

“I’ll delete them.”

Connor nods in gratitude and watches as Oliver walks over to the computer and logs in with his student passcode.

Oliver sits at the chair by the computer and Connor sits on a random table opposite it.

Reaching into his bag, Oliver retrieves a rectangular black box that’s very familiar to Connor and connects it to the computer.

“You still carry that around with you?”

Oliver doesn’t even have to look at him to know Connor’s smirking.

“It comes in handy at times like this.” Oliver replies drily

Connor doesn’t say another word and lets Oliver fiddle with the phone and type ridiculously fast on the computer keyboard.

After ten minutes, Oliver sighs and puts down the phone.

“What?” Connor asks, sitting up straighter on the table, “It works right? You’ll be able to hack into it?”

“Yeah it does, it’s just a newer phone so it’ll take a bit longer to hack into.”

“Hmmm about 13 minutes?”

Oliver turns and frowns at him, “How did you-“

“I remembered.” Connor says nonchalantly

Oliver stares at his old friend for a second before forcing himself to break eye contact,

“Yes well you’re right. How inconvenient. I guess I have to deal with you in the meantime.”

Connor snorts, “Am I really that much of a pain?”

“Yes” Oliver responds immediately

Connor looks at the ground and smiles to himself.

“I am sorry Ollie, you know that right?”

Oliver looks back at the screen where the progress bar is working at an obscenely slow rate.

“I guess. I don’t know; I never really expected you to try and talk to me again.”

Connor looks up at Oliver who is dutifully not looking at him but he can still see the sides of his face. He can see Oliver’s clenched jaw, his slightly furrowed eyebrows and the determination in his eyes to stare at the screen and not anywhere else.

He can see the discomfort in Oliver’s tense shoulders; hear the distrust in his words.

Connor knew that when he ended his friendship with Oliver it would likely hurt him. He just always defended his reasoning as it being for Oliver’s own good.

For the past two years he avoided looking at Oliver, transferred out of any classes they were in together and pretended he was completely fine drinking at parties where he would fuck random boys and then about 2am he’d get a little too drunk and would call Michaela desperately asking if Oliver was doing okay.

Michaela always told him Oliver was doing just fine without him which had made Connor feel a bit better at the time, knowing Oliver was at least happy without him even though Connor was breaking without Oliver.

But now he’s beginning to realise what he’d always suspected, that Michaela sugar-coated a lot in regards to Oliver’s well-being in the past two years.

He meant what he had told Oliver less than an hour ago. He never should have done any of it.

But cutting off all ties with your childhood best friend was at the time much better and much more preferable to telling your childhood best friend that you were sure you were falling in love with them.

“Oliver…” Connor whispers, all of his thoughts of Oliver from the past two years and the secret ones before then are on his lips, but he just doesn’t know how to get them out, doesn’t know how to make Oliver believe that they’re true.

“It’s done” Oliver says, his voice gentle but detached, “It’s unlocked I mean. Would you like to find what needs to be deleted or-?”

“Just delete all the photos.”

Oliver nods and while he deletes everything from the phone’s gallery and iCloud, Connor takes out his own phone and texts Gemma that the job’s almost done.

He hates Gemma’s ex-boyfriend with a burning passion but he is grateful for Michaela pushing him to suck up his pride and his nerves and ask Oliver to hack the phone and one of the other two kids in school who could do it.

Realistically Connor knows she probably only did it so Connor would stop calling her at all hours of the night to ask her about Oliver but he appreciates it anyway.

At least now he’s able to savour Oliver’s laugh once last time before they graduate.

Connor never realised how little he appreciated Oliver’s laugh and his beautiful smile until he wasn’t able to see it every day.

That was his decision and he knows that and he takes full responsibility for it. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t regret it.

“Okay, now it’s done.” Oliver plugs out the cables and hands the phone back to Connor.

Connor ignores the goosebumps that rise on his arms when Oliver’s fingers briefly touch his.

“Thanks” Connor says, unsure how to pour his gratitude into words “Really, thank you for this.”

Oliver stuffs his device into his bag and stands up, not fully meeting Connor’s eyes.

“It’s no problem. If that asshole decides to press charges for hacking or something then-“

“I would never sell you out Oliver.” Honest disbelief is laced in Connor’s voice.

He’s horrified at the thought that Oliver would think Connor could do that. He understands why Oliver would fear such a thing but it still causes a sliver of ice to course through his veins. 

“I-well yes I know that.”

Connor jumps down off the table as gracefully as he can,

“Thanks for this, it’s much appreciated.”

Oliver shrugs, “It was nothing.”

“No I…what can I do to pay you back?”

Now Oliver meets Connor’s eyes and Connor swallows at his hard, emotionless gaze,

“Nothing.”

“Ollie-“

“Don’t call me that and I said nothing.”

“But-“

“But nothing, I told you this was just me paying you back for stuff you did for me. You don’t owe me anything”

Connor groans, “Yes I do Oliver, I…I owe you everything.

“Connor…”

“Can…” Connor gulps “Can we…hang out sometime? So I can…explain? Maybe, if that’s okay? I know you don’t want me to and I know you owe me nothing and I don’t deserve even this conversation right now but…I’d just really like it if you knew the truth.”

Connor watches as several emotions flicker across Oliver’s warm brown eyes and for the first time he can recognise them as unease, nervous and insecure but there’s also a tiny hint of curiosity, temptation and want there that Connor clings to.

But that doesn’t mean Connor’s going to force Oliver into anything, especially not after everything he’s done to Oliver over the past two years.

“Look,” Connor says, stepping forward “I won’t force you into anything. Think about it? Let me know if you want to do anything, whenever you’re free is perfect for me. You don’t have to do anything Olli-Oliver.” Connor forces a small smile on his face “It’s completely up to you.”

Oliver slowly nods and Connor takes this as his cue to step back and walk towards the door.

Connor has his almost trembling hand on the doorknob, on the verge of leaving when he turns back to Oliver whose eyes were already on him.

“I’ll see you around Oliver….and thank you, for everything.”

And with that, Connor saunters out the door, leaving Oliver to close his eyes and let out a long, shaky breath before whispering a barely audible “See you” to the empty, still classroom.


End file.
